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Quick Facts:

When the weather gets colder and the overnight temperature dips below freezing, safeguard your plumbing by unscrewing your garden hoses. This prevents water from freezing in the hose and pipes from bursting.

When temperatures become extremely cold it is important
to open the faucets in the house so that they slowly drip.
This prevents the pipes from freezing up. This helps to protect
your plumbing during cold snaps.

Did you know that poor window quality accounts for as much as 30% loss of energy efficiency?

Painting or covering mirror doors...

Asked By:

Marlene

My 6' of mirrored closet doors look awful! I want to paint over the mirrors or maybe decoupage with torn kraft paper and then paint. Any suggestions would be welcome regarding how to prepare to paint or other good ideas.

Thanks,

Answer:

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Thank you for your Ask Jane question &#8211; and welcome to the Be Jane community!
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Sounds like your mirrors are in for an overhaul! As for painting over the mirrors, you can but just paint alone will not offer a very rich look as well as the fact that the paint can scratch very easily and expose what's underneath.
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Your idea to cover them with torn craft paper and then paint is an interesting one. Though if you are looking for something even more original, we suggest you find paper that matches your colors in the room and use it to adhere to the mirrors. Then, instead of painting, try using a clear or tinted glaze to seal it. This will create a non-uniform and artistic finish. We've even done something similar on walls, using wallpaper paste and brown paper bags. You might even want to crumple up some of the pieces before adhering them to add even more layers of texture.
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One other very rich idea we had was to take some 1" thick pieces of Styrofoam (you can find them at any home improvement center, and cover them with foam, batting and fabric using a hot glue gun. If you want to add a special touch, create holes 1" in the Styrofoam before you start to cover it. You'll need to purchase fabric covering buttons so you can cover them in the same material that you are working with (don't stress, this is super easy).
<ol>
<li>First you'll have to cut the foam to fit the size of the mirror. Just use an exacto blade. Be ready, it makes quite a mess. You may have to actually adhere a few of these together to make it wide enough to cover the surface. We use the wooden paint stirring sticks for braces and a hot glue gun.
<blockquote>Jane Tip: Don't let your hot glue gun get too hot as it will melt the Styrofoam.</blockquote></li>
<li>Next cut your foam to fit right over it and adhere it with just a little bit of hot glue. It will be locked in place by the fabric anyway.</li>
<li>Now cut the batting a little bit longer than the foam to allow for the corners of the foam to round out nicely.</li>
<li>Next place the fabric over top of it and start to adhere it. You'll want to pull it taught to make it look like a professional upholstering job. We suggest you leave 2" on either side of all 4 corners for last and then wrap them like a Christmas present, using hot glue as the adhesive.</li>
<li>Once finished upholstering the Styrofoam, follow the instructions on the fabric buttons and sew them on like a regular button. Be sure to pull the thread taught, puckering the fabric and foam around the button.</li>
<li>Now here's the trick to getting it to stay tight. Take a toothpick, lay it across the hole you are working on and tie off the thread, allowing for the knot to be over the toothpick. Basically incorporate the toothpick into the knot, allowing for it to stay in place up against the Styrofoam. Next, just adhere the upholstered board to the mirror, using your hot glue gun.</li>
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It'll look gorgeous, though some people might think you're crazy having padded walls in your bedroom!
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We hope this helps. Let us know how it turns out and send us some pictures of the final product!